Tracing the history of Bengali food takes one back to 1545 and Mukundaram Chakraborty’s Chandimangal Kabyo about the lives of Phullara and her husband Kalketu. It is here that one gets a glimpse of the food-sourcing habits of the region that have since evolved into an identity for Bengalis.
In her latest book, Calcutta on Your Plate, filmmaker and author Nilosree Biswas researches “omnipresent mention of eatables in literary works” to understand the myriad influences that make Bengali cuisine a force to reckon with. She firmly believes that the decadence and uniqueness of the food from the region are because of the aspirational babus, who chased the good life. The deeply researched book is a testament to that belief, juxtaposed with pictures taken by Irfan Nabi.
From author Amitav Ghosh discovering and tweeting about Biswas and Nabi’s previous book, Banaras: Of Gods, Humans and Stories, to having the Ibis trilogy-author write the cover blurb for Calcutta on Your Plate, Biswas and Nabi have come a long way.
A hardcover book with glossy pages, Banaras was a visual treat as well as a reader’s delight. Calcutta on Your Plate, however, didn’t have such pictorial provisions, but that was no deterrent for Nabi to explore the streets of Kolkata armed with his camera. “I wanted to be a part of the project, driven by my love for cricket, Eden Gardens and food of course,” Nabi writes. More a book on history, which is centred around food and not vice-versa, Biswas firmly believes that it is the only way to understand a region or a community. “Having grown up in the city of Kolkata, I have discovered a very disjointed sense of understanding among people regarding the source of the food that they often talk at lengths or get into arguments about,” she says.
The book speaks about Mughlai-Awadhi influences that shape a large portion of the Bengalis’ gastronomic psyche. While the nihari or galouti didn’t gain much favour with the Bengali cuisine, biryani, rezala and seekh kebabs found a way into the kitchens and formed a great source of the region’s pride. Biswas writes about the quintessential Bengali pulao with a sweet touch that is claimed to be handed down in families through generations, but in reality, is a hybrid version of the Lakhnavi pulao. Stories about Bengali food and its evolution is incomplete without the mention of the clubs that sprung up to cater to the British who “stayed on”. Biswas writes about the Bengal Club, formerly known as United Services Club, which still serves up delectable plates of cutlets and soufflés.
Divided into four long chapters, the book is an homage to painstaking research that leans heavily on the shoulders of Bengali publications. “From my university days, I have been quite taken by how Radha Prasad Gupta had written about food, street hawkers and more,” says Biswas of his book, Feriwalar Daak. She also recalls Purnendu Patri’s sketches as particular influences that left indelible marks on her while writing this book.
From the discovery of the dessert ledikeni by Bhim Nag, whose name and store can still be found in the city with many a dupe around to the history of the fowl cutlet discovered by Gosaidas Patra of the historic Chacha’s Hotel, Calcutta on Your Plate is truly a slice of the Bengali community served between the pages of this book. Walk down the lanes of the city experiencing tender coconut sherbet from Paramount that was invented by Prafulla Chandra Ray to keep his students beat the harsh summer; grab a bit of Dilkhusha Cabin’s kabiraji and then get a bite of Kalika’s telebhajas (fried snacks) on Surya Sen Street only to land up in Esplanade where the world of Mughlai delights await.
Calcutta on your plate
By: Nilosree Biswas
Publisher: Rupa
Pages: 198
Price: Rs 395